


One Last Time For Gotham

by BunnyJess



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batwoman (Comic), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Begging, Broken Bones, Character Death, Desperation, Family meeting, Gen, Gotham Rooftops, Gunshot Wounds, assassination attempt, character goes mute through trauma, character ignores their injuries, or more through grief, talking to self to motivate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22292356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyJess/pseuds/BunnyJess
Summary: Jason stumbles across a plan Deadshot has been working on. It is genius in its creativity and engineering. A masterpiece he'd have been envious of once upon a time. Now he just feels terror. He must warn his family; whatever it takes, no matter the injuries he has. He will not fail them.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 150





	One Last Time For Gotham

**Author's Note:**

> My husband wrote this last night on his break at work. I read it this morning. All I can say is...I'm sorry, if I have to suffer then so do you *evil laugh*

Jason’s breath was ragged, with each stride his body screamed at him to stop. His booted feet hit the sodden rooftops and he felt the broken bone in his leg grind against itself as he pushed himself to keep his pace up. The pain was unrelenting, but he didn’t have time to stop and complain about it. The wet trickle of blood down his calf had slowed slightly as his leg tried to clot, but his continuous movement wasn’t giving it the reprieve it desperately needed.

_Come on Jason, push harder! Gotham depends on it!_

He saw the edge of the current row of rooves coming to end and mentally prepared himself for the pain he was about to experience when he landed on the next row. Three metres…two metres…one metre. He pushed off with his good leg and forced it back under his body so that he could try and take his weight on landing with it too.

He landed, but his attempt to lessen the load on his broken leg caused him to slip and stumble. Jason pushed himself up off the floor and carried on sprinting across the rooftop. The pain from the gunshot wound was now starting to cloud his vision, threatening to consume his mind completely, but he couldn’t let it. Deadshot could NOT win. Jason drew on everything he had to keep himself focused on getting there on time.

Meanwhile his helmet’s AI was attempting to repair his communications suite, it had been damaged during the earlier fight with Deadshot. One of his infuriating ricochet shots. “Update on com repair?” Jason asked the AI.

After a brief pause the synthesised voice responded. “Nearly there Hood, but I estimate you will intercept before I repair the damage. Are you sure you want to continue with this line of action?” Jason ignored the question, he didn’t want to think about it, he just knew what he had to do.

Jason sped over the increasingly familiar rooftops towards one of the Bats and Birds preferred rendezvous points. Deadshot’s intended target area. It was clear he had studied the vigilantes, studied the RV point. He knew how they stood when they were there, how they moved around during discussions. This hit had been years in the planning, but Floyd wasn’t about to let the biggest payday of his career become a missed opportunity. Sure, he was the best shot in the world, but hitting ten armoured targets with just one round would be the best shot of his career. He had personally designed a bullet that was capable of penetrating that many armoured skulls. A series of special reflection plates that activated an energy shield as soon as his trigger depressed, all carefully placed around the rooftop so that they would bounce the bullet around in the precise order to take out all the vigilantes. This was all providing they stood where his recon said they would.

The Red Hood had found out of Deadshot’s plan when he raided Lex Luthor’s lab last week. Jason had been kicked out of Gotham. He’d run out of chances to fight alongside his family because of his preferred method of dealing with the worst scum the world had to offer. There hadn’t been a fight or confrontation. Jason had returned to the Batcave, the brains of a child-trafficker still splattered all over his jacket, to see Bruce slumped in his chair in front of the vast screens. Jason had taken just one step further when Bruce spoke. It wasn’t growled, or yelled, but whispered through exasperation. “Leave Jason. Please don’t come back.” The disappointment that laced Bruce’s words were clear. Jason had wanted to make a scene, fight against his father’s iron grip on a city he had more right to than his billionaire dad. He couldn’t though, the demons inside his own head telling him that Bruce was right.

None of that matter now though as he forged his way across the rooftops like a man possessed, he was sure the only way a human could run quicker was with access to the Speed Force. What he would do to have Bart with him now. He ran up the slope of the roof and saw them, standing perfectly still, discussing what was to come next that night. He scanned the rooftops around them, desperate to find his quarry. He knew which direction Deadshot was shooting from, but not the precise location. Jason switched his display to thermal. This might not work what with all the vents and obstructions, but it couldn’t hurt to try. His luck payed out though and sure enough, he saw the thermal outline of someone crouched with a rifle, several blocks away.

“Hood, you cannot make it to his location before I project he will take the shot.” The AI blurted out.

“I’m aware of that.” Jason said, still surging forwards across the rooftops. This was it. This was going to be the one single biggest act he did to try and save Gotham. He could feel whichever of his Tibia and Fibula wasn’t broken, edging closer as it bore his weight over the rooftops.

“Approaching intercept in five meters, suggested jump at the one and a half metre mark. Communications suite restored. Jump now.”

Jason pushed as hard as he could and opened a com link to his family. “I’m sorry.” He said as a hundred metres away they all froze in confusion at hearing Jason’s voice.

Then the rapport from Deadshot’s rifle echoed across the night sky.

All the Bat’s ducked instinctively, but no bullet ever arrived.

“South west!” Kate shouted to the rest of the vigilante’s and they spread out, all heading in the direction of the gunshot.

“Did Jason fire that shot?” Steph asked as she vaulted over a stairwell and landed in a small puddle.

“Just keep your eyes peeled.” Bruce grunted, trying to get Stephanie to focus was like trying to make Clark stop giving him that smug smile every time he was right.

Suddenly an ear-splitting cry exploded into their earpieces. They all recognised the scream as Dick’s and their hearts dropped. The next burst over the com was frantic, Dick barely stopped for breath. “No! Jason, come on, sit up now. It can’t be that bad you’re just being dramatic. Come on Jason, SIT UP! Jason, I’m not messing around now SIT UP! LITTLEWING! SIT UP! WILL YOU SIT THE FUCK UP! JASON! SIT…up”

They all converged on Dick’s marker and found him kneeling in a pool of blood. Jason’s limp body pressed tight to his chest as he heaved body-wracking sobs into the lifeless form of his younger brother. Most of them froze solid. Cass sank to her knees, but Kate walked slowly over to Dick and Jason.

Batwoman knelt down next to them and tried to pull Jason’s body away from Dick. His head reared up and he let out a growl so guttural, so feral, and deep that Kate was almost scared of him. For a moment she wondered if Dick would ever let go of the body, but she needed to inspect Jason. “Nightwing, let him go. I need to figure out who did this!” Kate and Jason had never been particularly close; so, whilst what she saw before her was mortifying, she was the one most suited to carry out this task. “Nightwing, please?” She glanced over her shoulder at Babs who was bawling her eyes out on the floor. She would be no help. Instead she looked to Bruce who stood there immobile, not saying anything, almost like he was frozen in time. “Batman, help me!” She called to him.

Without a word, he moved over to Dick. He rested a hand on his first son’s shoulder. The touch seemed enough to release Dick’s grasp. Kate supported Jason’s body to the ground as Tim and Damian came and collected Dick, supporting him over to Babs before he passed out on the ground. Kate inspected the ruined remnants of Jason’s helmet. “This was a gift from Starfire, a metal so hard that there are few things that could crack it.” She announced but, received no acknowledgement from Bruce. Instead he turned and looked back over to where they had all come from, and saw the pads illuminated by their flickering energy shields.

“Deadshot.” He growled just loud enough for Kate to hear. It turned out to be the last word she ever heard him speak; that any of them would hear for the great Batman found himself breaking inside.


End file.
